Wednesday’s Mini-Report, 5.14.14

* Turkey: “As hopes began to fade on Wednesday for hundreds of coal miners still trapped underground in a hellish explosion, anti-government protests broke out here and in the capital, while victims’ families demanded answers in what is emerging as perhaps the worst industrial accident in the country’s history.”

* Related news: “Opponents blamed Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government for privatizing the country’s mines and ignoring repeated warnings about their safety…. [Erdogan] appeared to turn defensive when asked whether sufficient precautions had been in place at the mine. ‘Explosions like this in these mines happen all the time.’”

* Nigeria: “The U.S. is now using unmanned drones in the search for hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram, the White House said Wednesday.”

* More on this on tonight’s show (and here in the morning): “U.S. President Barack Obama appeared at an aging New York bridge on Wednesday to chide the U.S. Congress for failing thus far to approve transportation legislation for urgently needed road projects.”

* Wildfires: “More than 11,000 homes and businesses were ordered to evacuate on Wednesday and power was cut off to many residents as a wind-lashed wildfire roared out of control in San Diego County, authorities said.”

* At this point, it looks like marriages will begin on Friday morning in Idaho: “U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale has denied Gov. Butch Otter’s motion for a stay on her decision overturning Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriages.”

* Big news in the Senate: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Wednesday said he opposes the nomination of President Obama’s pick for the federal bench, Georgia state Judge Michael Boggs, pointing to his history of controversial positions on issues ranging from abortion to the confederate flag. Although Reid didn’t foreclose the possibility of eventually being convinced, he made clear he is deeply troubled by Boggs’ past.”

* Someone should probably let Marco Rubio know: “The accelerating rate of climate change poses a severe risk to national security and acts as a catalyst for global political conflict, a report published Tuesday by a leading government-funded military research organization concluded.”

* This has to be causing Chris Christie at least some embarrassment: “For the third time this year a major Wall Street ratings agency has lowered New Jersey’s credit rating, citing revenue shortfalls and other budget problems. Moody’s Investors Service announced Tuesday that it was downgrading the state’s credit rating by one step because of New Jersey’s ‘weakened financial position resulting from recurring revenue shortfalls and ongoing reliance on non-recurring resources.’”

* In the media world, this came as something of a shock: “Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, is unexpectedly leaving the position and will be replaced by Dean Baquet, the managing editor of the newspaper, the company said on Wednesday.”